Literature
Thursday, February 05, 2009
The case for the greatest, forgotten provider of words and ideas to Shakespeare
JOHN FLORIO AND THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH RENAISSANCE. Lecture by Lamberto Tassinari
A antipapist expatriate in 16th century England
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura is pleased to present the lecture John Florio and the Italian contribution to English Renaissance by Lamberto Tassinari, on the influence of Italian literary works on the English Renaissance from Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio to Giordano Bruno.The lecture will focus on the Florios, father and son, apostles of the Renaissance in England from 1550 to 1620: language teachers, translators, writers.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 6:30 pm
Istituto Italiano di Cultura - 496 Huron St., Toronto
Free admission
In 16th century England virtually no classical and biblical learning was produced and translation was the most powerful means of cultural development; not only from Latin and Greek but also from the vernacular literatures of continental Europe, notably from Italy. Italian visitors and expatriates such as: Gerolamo Cardano, Michel Angelo Florio, John Florio, Alberico Gentili, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Teodoro Diodati, Ottaviano Lotti, Vincenzo Saviolo, etc, held an important role in the shaping of the English Renaissance in the fields of science, literature, law, music, business and martial arts. Tassinari will make the case for John Florio, the greatest, forgotten provider of words and ideas to Shakespeare. Could he be the writer, with the nom de plume of Shakespeare, of the works attributed to a man from Stratford? A Power point presentation will accompany the presentation.
A resident of Montreal since 1981, Lamberto Tassinari obtained a PhD in philosophy from the University of Florence in Italy. There, he taught and worked both in communications, at Fiat in Turin, and in publishing, at the Mondadori and Etas Kompass in Milan. In 1983, he helped found the Montreal transcultural magazine ViceVersa, where he served as editor until 1997. This quarterly periodical, which published articles in their original language (French, English, Italian and Spanish) without translation, was one of the most original and innovative undertakings on the Quebec cultural scene in the last two decades. As editor, he participated in numerous international conferences and events, including L’état des revues at the Pompidou Centre in Paris in 1987; the Città nuova, nuova città colloquium at the 31st Festival dei Popoli, Florence, in 1990; and the Pluralism and Literature conference at Carleton University, Ottawa, in 1991. He was a member of the Conseil des arts de la communauté urbaine de Montréal from 1992 to 1995. He participated in the Committee against Racism in the Arts set up by the Canada Council in 1995. Since 1982, Lamberto Tassinari has taught Italian language and literature at the University of Montreal. As well as writing numerous newspaper and magazine articles, he published a novel in 1985, an essay collection, Utopies par le hublot (Carte Blanche), in December 1999, and an essay on art in the book Utopia (Les Presses de l’Université de Laval) in 2001. Early this year Lamberto Tassinari published a book in Italian (Shakespeare? è il nome d'arte di John Florio. Montréal : Giano Books, 2008 378 p. - forthcoming English version) in which he puts forward strong arguments which state that great Elizabethan linguist, translator and writer John Florio, is the author of the works of William Shakespeare. According to Tassinari there are no other candidates in the grotesque Authorship question that have Florio’s credentials. Shakespeare and Florio mesh perfectly in style, character, education, linguistic and biblical erudition, experience of exile, circle of friends and relationships, etc. Shakespeare and Florio shared the same knowledge and passion for the Italian literature and language, they were both polyglots, both interested in Aretino’s works and, of course, in Giordano Bruno’s ideas, without mentioning Montaigne.
John Florio The Man Who Was Shakespeare by Lamberto Tassinari can be ordered with PayPal at www.johnflorio-is-shakespeare.com
Information
Date: Thursday, February 05, 2009
Times: 6:30 pm
Venue: Istituto Italiano di Cultura - 496 Huron St., Toronto
Presented by: Istituto Italiano di Cultura
In collaboration with:
Free admission
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